Our narrator now is Imriel de la Courcel, much-abused son of the treacherous princess Melisande, who was adopted by Phédre nò Delaunay, the central character of the previous trilogy, at the end of the last book.

Should you begin to feel a sneaking sympathy for the much-abused chap, though, recall that 30-odd years' service means he departs with an uncapped pension of two-thirds of his final salary, reportedly adding up to £350,000 a year.

But condescension aside, the much-abused architect of this and so many other malapropisms may have been on to something -- a subtle something for which the seemingly buffoonish mind of the Hall of Fame ballplayer has never been credited.

The current Pope, Joseph Ratzinger, has stated (in a letter to the much-abused citizenry of Ireland), that part of the blame for the abuse scandals and their handling by the Church of Ireland was due to "rapid transformation and secularization of Irish society."